Method of making garment or fabric holding catches



(No Model.)

G. H. PHELPS. METHOD OF MAKING GARMENT. 0R PABRIG'HOLDING OATOHES.

No. 427,242. Patented May 6, 1890.

UNITED STATES- PATENT CEErcE.

GEORGE I-I. PHELPS, OF NEIVTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

METHOD OF MAKING GARMENT OR FABRIC HOLDING CATGHES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 427,242, dated May 6, 1890. Application filed June 15, 1889. I Renewed February 26, 1890. Serial No. 841,856. (No model.)

in g drawings, is a specification, like letters and figures on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object a novel method of manufacturing metallic catches employed to hold garments, the said catches in practice having a wedge-shaped opening, the inner edges of which are sufiiciently separated at one end of the catch for the ready introduction therein of the material to be held, the said edges converging'toward the other end of the catch and being brought quite closely together, so thatthe edges at the holding part of the catch may lie parallel, or nearly so. A catch of this class, to be practically successful, should have the holding portion of its slot where the edges are substantially parallel very narrow-say about one-sixtyfourth of an inch-and to avoid injury to the fabric held by the catch the holding-edges of the latter should be very smooth, and the catch to be salable needs to be as thin and light as possible, and yet it must be very strong.

Catches of the class referred to have been made of wire; but wire catches have not been acceptable to the public, especially if the wire is above No. 14 gage, for a larger wire makes a clumsy catch. To enable wire as light as No. 14 gage to be used it has to be of steel and be tempered in order to be stiff enough to work at all. The use of steel wire is, however, objectionable for two reasons-first, because it rusts quickly, and, secondly, because the tempered steel wire is so hard that it frequently breaks or cracks when beingbent into shape, especially at the short bend at the holding end of the catch. Catches of the class described have also been cut out from sheet metal, usually brass; but in such sheetmetal catches the holding part of the catch cannot have a slot as narrow and as long as desired and actually necessary for the part of the punch used to cut the sheet metal and leave the narrow holding-slot cannot be practically made as thin as one-sixty-fourth of an inch and be used to cut any great number of catches, and hence the punch has been made thicker, and consequently the catches cut out by it have not had slots of the proper shape, but have been wider and shorter, and their sides have not been as nearly parallel as they should be to be of real value. 1

In accordance with my invent-ion, I take a blank, preferably cut from sheet metal of a thickness greater than that required for the main part of the finished catch, and cut from the same a blank, the latter having a slot which is wider than the width of the slot in the finished catch. to pressure between dies, which spread or reduce in thickness the metal of the blank atthe sides thereof; but at and about the holdingslot I leave arib or thick edge, which is smooth and without any fin, the said edge form- I then subjectthe blank ing a finish at the edge of the slot of sufficient thickness to avoid injury to the fabric, the edge so left being as smooth as the edge left by the use of wire. The blank produced by the two steps named, in order to be efficient on fine fabrics and to increase its hold ing power, has to have its holding-slot made narrower, and this third operation is effected by squeezing the blank in the direction of its Width, as will be described.

My improved method of manufacturing garment-catches of the class described consists in forming a blank from metal, preferably sheet metal, of a thickness greater than that desired for the main body of the finished catch, and then subjecting the said blank to the action of dies, whereby a considerableportion of the blank along its outer edges is reduced in thickness,leavin g a finished flange or edge about the said slot; also, in forming a blank from metal, preferably sheet metal,

bly sheet metal, of a thickness greater than that desired for the thickness of the body of the finished catch and making the slot wider than required for the finished catch, then subjecting the blank to the action of dies to reduce the thickness of the blank back from the inner edges thereof about the slot therein and finish and smooth the said edges, and thereafter forcing the sides of the blank toward each other to reduce the width of the slot in its narrowest portion of the blank to complete the catch, substantially as will be described.

Figure 1 in plan and section shows ablank out from sheet metal in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 in like views shows the blank represented in Fig. 1 as having been subjected to pressure between dies to reduce a part of the blank in thickness. Fig. 3 by like views shows a blank such as represented in Fig. 2, but as having been compressed to close the slot. Figs. 4: and 5 show both the male and female dies, the female'die being represented as inverted to better show its shape, Fig. 6 is a cross-section of the male and female dies of Figs/Land 5,being slightly separated. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section of the male and female dies. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the dies and former used to close the sides of the catch or to act on the blank shown in Fig. 2 and leave it in the condition shown in Fig. 3. Figs. 9 and 10 showa modified form of clasp, which may be made by the method to be herein described; and Fig. 11 shows a blank made from metal in the form of a wire and formed or bent into the shape of the blank shown in Fig. 1.

Preferably with a suitable punch Ifirst cut from a piece of sheet metal a blank, as a,substantially as in Fig. 1, wherein it will be seen that the metal at the sides of the blank is thicker than at the edges of the blank shown in Fig. 2, or at the edges of the catch shown in Fig. 3; but the blank may be bent into shape from wire of usual form. The thickness of the metal employed in the blank is purposely greater than that desired for the main part of the catch.

The blank a, of a thickness in excess of that required for the finished catch, is laid upon and so as to embrace the central part 2 of a male die A The male dieAhas agroove or recess 3, extended along two sides of and about the point of the said central part 2.

The female die 13 is cut out at one side, as

shown, to fit over the central portion 2 of the male die, and a portion of the said female die is also grooved or recessed, as at 4, the said groove or recess extending substantially about the inner space 5 of the female die, into which enters the central portion 2 of the male die. I

A blank a-su ch as shown in Figs. 1 or 1l is subjected to pressure between the male and female dies described, which results in slightly spreading the metal of the said blank and at the same time reducing it in thickness, especially at its outer edge, leaving the said blank, however, of substantially its original thickness along the inner sides of the slot 6 made in the blank, the inner edges of the blank being, bythe operation described, rounded or beaded, as at Z). The blank in its second stage, as represented in Fig. 2, has an inner finished smooth edge I), which is thicker than the outer edge 0 of the blank.

In cutting the blank a from sheet metal, as described, the portion of the slot 6, at the left of the dotted line d is wider than it can be used tohold fine fabrics; but this excess of width in the slot is made for the reason that it is not practical to cut from sheet metal a blank and leave the space between its sides or holding-edges as narrow as required in actual use with fine fabrics, for if the punch is made fine enough to cut a fine slot the punch breaks so rapidly that its use is not practical. Having reduced the outer edges of the blank below the normal thickness of the stock, and beaded, shaped, or finished the inner edges of the blank, as in Fig. 2, the said blank is placed overa former f, (see Fig. 8,) having athin narrow tongue 8, of the width it is desired to leave between the inner acting edges of the catch, and then jaws, as 9, having co-operating with them suitable means by which to move them, are closed, and acting against the outer edges of the blank close the slot until the finished portions or holding-edges b of the catch fit the former f, and especially its tongue 8. This contraction of the slot leaves the finished catch represented in Fig. 3.

In Fig. 9 I have shown a modified form of blank which may be subjected to pressure in the direction of its thickness and then be closed or partially shut together, as described of the blanks represented in Fig. 2, thus producing the catch represented in Fig., 10.

The catch, Fig. 10, differs from that shown in Fig. 3 in no essential feature other than that it is open at its side for a short distance.

I claim- 1. The method herein described of manufacturing garment-catches, the same consisting in forming a blank from metal of a thickness greater than that desired for the main body of the finished catch, and then subjecting the said blank to the action of dies, whereby the blank outside its holding-edges thereof is reduced in thickness, leaving a finished edge about the said slot which is of greater thickness than the body of the blank next the said edges, substantially as described.

2. The herein-described method of manufacturing catches, which consists in forming a blank from metal and making the slot wider than required for the completed catch, and then placing a former in the narrowest part of the slot and closing the sides of the blank upon the said former, substantially as described.

The method herein described of forming a blank from metal of a thickness greater than that desired for the thickness of the body of the finished catch, and making the slot wider than required for the finished catch, then subjecting the blank to the action of dies to reduce the thickness of the blank back from the edges of the slot therein and to finname to this specification in the presence of ish and smooth the edges of the blank along two subscribing Witnesses. the lines of the slot, and thereafter forcing" the sides of the blank toward each other to v PHELPS 5 reduce the width of the slot in its narrowest Witnesses:

portion, substantially as described. GEO. WV. GREGORY,

In testimony whereof I have signed my MABEL RAY. 

